Strength, Bravery & Magic.
BBC MERLIN
Characters: Merlin, Arthur & Gwaine
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.
Warnings: Swearing & spoilers
A/N: The aftermath of the published dwarf-elf-thing article... You know, just because I should really be revising right now...
There was a loud crashing noise in Gwaine’s room, and also in his head. He pulled the bedcovers over his face and groaned.
“Gwaine!”
He sighed, “Arthur, I know you’re the prince but has no one ever told you it’s rude to barge into someone’s chambers a) when they’re sleeping and b) without knocking.”
“Gwaine, I’ve been knocking for the past 2 minutes at least.”
“Ahh, that’s what that noise was. I just assumed it was part of the army racing round my head at the moment.”
“Well, if you will insist on getting drunk…”
“I insist on nothing of the sort. It just happens.”
“And anyway, it’s past midday. You were supposed to be at training at least two hours ago.”
“Ah bugger, sorry mate.”
Arthur shrugged, but then realised that since Gwaine was still buried under blankets, he couldn’t actually see him.
“Gwaine?”
Gwaine grunted.
“Are you still with me?”
“I was kinda hoping you’d go away, at least until the headache subsided.”
“Not gonna happen. I have something to show you.”
Gwaine reluctantly pulled the sheets down, wincing in the light and sitting up as slowly as he could.
“You look like shit.”
“Thanks. I feel like it. My mouth’s as dry as a…”
Arthur held up a hand, and Gwaine stopped talking.
“Yeah, never mind.”
“Mmm.”
“What’ve you got there, then?”
Arthur thrust the parchment in front of Gwaine, who looked down at it and then back up at Arthur, shrugging.
“Oh stop being so lazy Gwaine. You’re of noble birth, you can read ruins!”
Gwaine sighed, “Worth a try. What’m I looking for?”
“Just read it.” Arthur said, standing with his hands on his hips and looking at Gwaine expectantly. When Gwaine finished reading, he looked up and shrugged again.
“And?”
“Merlin!”
“What about him?”
“You knew!”
Gwaine looked confused for a second, and then it hit him. “Oh. Right.”
“You knew about,” he lowered his voice, “it! And you didn’t think to tell someone? No?”
“Well, you know… Hold on…” Gwaine was still looking down at the paper.
“Gwaine, that’s treason. Do you not understand?”
“Hold on a minute.”
“What?”
“You hypocrite!”
“What?!”
“You knew as well!”
“Well of course…”
“You come barging in here when I’m sleeping to have a go at me and you yourself knew!”
A guard walked past the door and looked in, surprised to see a very disgruntled looking Gwaine, and a sheepish Arthur.
“Everything alright, sire?”
Arthur waved dismissively, “Yes, yes. It’s fine.”
The guard looked slightly alarmed and backed out of the room.
“And were you born in a barn?”
“What?”
“You’re supposed to shut doors, Arthur! Especially for conversations like these!”
“I think we should go to my chambers.”
“Arthur, I’m not even dressed.”
“Well get dressed!”
Gwaine glared and then stood up, groaning. “I need a piss.”
If Arthur was bothered by a half naked Gwaine being crude, he didn’t show it. But maybe that was just the noble birth.
“Gwaine?”
“What?”
“You may want to have a bath later, too.”
“Uh?”
“You stink.”
“What of?”
“Cheap ale.”
He snorted, “Damn.”
“Mmm. And do you not realise those cupboards are there to put things in?”
“…When was the last time you put something into a cupboard, sire?”
“I, have people to do that for me. Now hurry up, I don’t have all day.”
“Look, I drank a lot last night, alright?”
“Too much information.”
“Whatever.”
“You don’t act like a noble.”
“Never wanted to be one.”
Arthur shrugged and sat down on the table, after a couple of minutes Gwaine staggered out, clothed and looking slightly less of a state. Arthur stood up, and Gwaine followed him out of the room, white faced and drawing disapproving looks from the castle staff.
“If one more person gives me that pursed-lips look, I swear…” Gwaine growled, and Arthur laughed.
“The females of the castle do that to everyone, just ignore them.”
They reached Arthur’s chambers, and sat down at the table, placing the article in front of them.
“So, how long have you known?” Arthur asked, and Gwaine shrugged.
“I just, you know, noticed strange things about him; things he shouldn’t be able to do. And then the whole strength and magic thing… well, I just put two and two together.” He looked up at Arthur, “What about you?”
Arthur shrugged, “Ages. He’s not the best at keeping secrets. Always knew there was something odd about him… then, like you said; strange things happen when he’s around - miracles, and the like. I just, like you, put two and two together. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Gwaine laughed, “Are you serious? He’s my mate! I’m not gonna grass on him to the crowned Prince of Camelot so his head can go to the chopping block!”
“You think so little of me?” Arthur said, sounding annoyed.
“No, I just… I didn’t know whether your father’s influence had corrupted you so much.”
Arthur snorted, “And are you anything like your father?”
“Sadly not. Massive disappointment, actually.” He grinned at Arthur, but he noticed the sadness in his eyes.
“Yeah, I feel like that myself sometimes. But I think he’d be proud of you.”
Gwaine shrugged, “And you’re a better man than your father. So why didn’t you tell me you knew?”
“Well, I don’t know. I haven’t told anyone. I figure the more people who know, the greater change of my father finding out and… well, I don’t know if I could protect him.”
Gwaine nodded, “I understand. So, do we tell him we know?”
“He’s told a whole goblin magazine! Could he be any more idiotic?!”
“It’s pretty pig-headed.”
Arthur shook his head violently, “Too right. And in answer to your question, I don’t know. He may get scared and do something stupid.”
“I’ve been trying to prize it out of him. His excuses are brilliant…”
Arthur glared, “I’ve been slightly more subtle than that.”
“So subtle he doesn’t notice?”
Arthur glared again.
“You know, we could have some fun with this…” Gwaine said suddenly, smirking.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed, “In what way?”
“Well, you know…”
“That would be a little bit cruel.”
“He has been lying to us…”
“To save his life!”
Gwaine could see Arthur cracking, “Yeah, but we’re his mates…”
“Gwaine…”
Gwaine knew he’d won.
Merlin came breezing into Arthur’s chambers to tidy up to be confronted with the sight of Arthur and Gwaine deep in muttered conversation. Gwaine was facing the door when Merlin walked in, and his eyes widened before he shoved a piece of paper under the table and reached an arm out to Arthur in an almost restraining way. Merlin saw the rise and fall of Arthur taking a deep breath, before he spun round and said, in a scarily even voice,
“Merlin, we need to talk.”
Merlin’s mouth went dry, and he managed to squeak out,
“I er… left…”
And then Arthur was on him, pinning him up against the wall, face inches away, anger in his eyes. Gwaine was stood behind him, staring pityingly at Merlin, but not saying anything.
“Arthur… what?”
“Oh come on, Merlin, are you really that dim? YOU KNOW WHAT!”
Merlin’s heart sank, “Arthur…”
“Don’t ARTHUR me, Merlin, you’ve been lying to me since the day you got here!”
“Arthur, I’m sorry. I really am, but how could I tell you?”
“You didn’t trust me, is that it?”
“Well… no, it’s just… Arthur…”
Merlin could feel the tears in his eyes, and Arthur’s death grip really hurt.
“Arthur, I… honestly… I’ll explain… just, please. Don’t kill me.”
At this, Gwaine burst out laughing. Arthur dropped Merlin, who slid to the floor, and spun round to face him.
“Gwaine!”
“I’m sorry,” Gwaine said, between the laughter. “I just… I couldn’t hold it in… he had me at ‘please don’t kill me.”
“I can see that, idiot!”
Merlin was confused, but not for long. Watching the banter while sitting on the floor he realised that they had been having him on. They were joking about something which could potentially kill him. And it really, really wasn’t funny. He felt the anger flare up inside of him, and jumped to his feet.
Once again Gwaine was facing him, and his eyes widened in true shock this time.
“You knew?” Merlin said, managing to keep his voice at a fairly even pitch which also managed to scare the shit out of Arthur and Gwaine. Arthur turned round,
“Look, Merlin, we were just having a joke.”
“Yeah, you know, deciding to push things along a bit…”
“You were taking ages…”
Merlin started to walk towards them both, and they retreated until it was them who were pinned against the wall. Angry Merlin was just a little bit scary.
“How long?” he hissed out, and they looked at each other.
“HOW LONG?”
“Er… a while… since… well, I’m not sure…”
“Mmm, since the goblin…”
“A WHILE? YOU’VE KNOWN ‘A WHILE’ AND DIDN’T BOTHER TO TELL ME?”
He was in front of Arthur now, right up in his face, and Gwaine saw his opportunity to make a dash for it. But before he could, Merlin’s eyes had gone gold and a broom was in front of him, stopping him from going anywhere. In fact, all of the cleaning equipment had come to life and was going a bit mad throughout the room. Gwaine realised that if it was any other time, he would find it quite humorous.
“Well… come on Merlin, you weren’t exactly subtle.”
“AND YOU THOUGHT YOU’D JUST HAVE A BIT OF FUN WITH THAT?”
“We didn’t mean…”
Merlin turned to Gwaine, “I’ll deal with you in a minute!”
Gwaine shut up, and Merlin turned back to Arthur, pointing. Once again Gwaine could see how, in the future, this moment would be pretty funny; but right now he was nervous, to say the least.
“YOU JUST THINK, OH YEAH, IT’S MERLIN, WE’LL HAVE A PLAY AROUND TRYING TO SCARE HIM HALF TO DEATH, HE WON’T MIND, DO YOU?”
He got no response.
“DO YOU, ARTHUR?”
“No, we just…”
“YOU’RE BOTH FUCKING IDIOTS!”
Gwaine was on the verge of laughing now, due to Merlin reminding him of his mother. The broom seemed to notice it and stepped up its game, moving further into Gwaine’s personal space. Arthur noticed this, and also reached the verge of laughing.
“OH YOU THINK IT’S FUNNY DO YOU?”
A couple of candles lit themselves in the room.
“WE’LL SEE WHAT’S FUNNY, ARTHUR PENDRAGON!”
Arthur opened his mouth to speak just as the door opened and the cleaning utensils crashed to the floor in haphazard places. Gwen walked in with some flowers and stopped dead at the sight of Arthur and Gwaine, both knights of Camelot, pushed up against the wall with Merlin, servant, stood in front of them, pointing and visibly furious. She shook her head and backed out of the room muttering,
“Yeah, I don’t want to know.”
When the door closed, Merlin seemed to have lost most of his anger (to the relief of Gwaine and Arthur). He took a couple of steps back, took a deep breath, and said,
“I could fucking kill you both right now.”
“If it means anything now, we’re sorry,” Arthur said, and Gwaine hastily added a “Yeah.”
“If you ever even think about doing that to anyone, ever again; I will…” he ended the sentence with a growl, and Gwaine had to bite back a “… you’ll what?”
Arthur glared at him, also expecting a “…you’ll what?” but needn’t have bothered.
After a moment of awkward silence, Arthur cleared his throat.
“On the plus side, you’ve still got your head.”
This was, apparently, the wrong thing to say as Merlin glared at them both again before muttering, “Fucking dickhead” and flouncing out.
Arthur and Gwaine looked at each other, before shakily smirking.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Gwaine muttered, and Arthur shook his head.
“Me neither.”
“Is he still out there?”
Arthur nodded, “I think so…” He raised his voice.
“Looks like I’ll have to get my own lunch, then.”
The doors flew open again, and Arthur and Gwaine couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on Merlin’s face; which earned them another glare.
“I hate you both.”
Characters: Merlin, Arthur & Gwaine
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made.
Warnings: Swearing & spoilers
A/N: The aftermath of the published dwarf-elf-thing article... You know, just because I should really be revising right now...
There was a loud crashing noise in Gwaine’s room, and also in his head. He pulled the bedcovers over his face and groaned.
“Gwaine!”
He sighed, “Arthur, I know you’re the prince but has no one ever told you it’s rude to barge into someone’s chambers a) when they’re sleeping and b) without knocking.”
“Gwaine, I’ve been knocking for the past 2 minutes at least.”
“Ahh, that’s what that noise was. I just assumed it was part of the army racing round my head at the moment.”
“Well, if you will insist on getting drunk…”
“I insist on nothing of the sort. It just happens.”
“And anyway, it’s past midday. You were supposed to be at training at least two hours ago.”
“Ah bugger, sorry mate.”
Arthur shrugged, but then realised that since Gwaine was still buried under blankets, he couldn’t actually see him.
“Gwaine?”
Gwaine grunted.
“Are you still with me?”
“I was kinda hoping you’d go away, at least until the headache subsided.”
“Not gonna happen. I have something to show you.”
Gwaine reluctantly pulled the sheets down, wincing in the light and sitting up as slowly as he could.
“You look like shit.”
“Thanks. I feel like it. My mouth’s as dry as a…”
Arthur held up a hand, and Gwaine stopped talking.
“Yeah, never mind.”
“Mmm.”
“What’ve you got there, then?”
Arthur thrust the parchment in front of Gwaine, who looked down at it and then back up at Arthur, shrugging.
“Oh stop being so lazy Gwaine. You’re of noble birth, you can read ruins!”
Gwaine sighed, “Worth a try. What’m I looking for?”
“Just read it.” Arthur said, standing with his hands on his hips and looking at Gwaine expectantly. When Gwaine finished reading, he looked up and shrugged again.
“And?”
“Merlin!”
“What about him?”
“You knew!”
Gwaine looked confused for a second, and then it hit him. “Oh. Right.”
“You knew about,” he lowered his voice, “it! And you didn’t think to tell someone? No?”
“Well, you know… Hold on…” Gwaine was still looking down at the paper.
“Gwaine, that’s treason. Do you not understand?”
“Hold on a minute.”
“What?”
“You hypocrite!”
“What?!”
“You knew as well!”
“Well of course…”
“You come barging in here when I’m sleeping to have a go at me and you yourself knew!”
A guard walked past the door and looked in, surprised to see a very disgruntled looking Gwaine, and a sheepish Arthur.
“Everything alright, sire?”
Arthur waved dismissively, “Yes, yes. It’s fine.”
The guard looked slightly alarmed and backed out of the room.
“And were you born in a barn?”
“What?”
“You’re supposed to shut doors, Arthur! Especially for conversations like these!”
“I think we should go to my chambers.”
“Arthur, I’m not even dressed.”
“Well get dressed!”
Gwaine glared and then stood up, groaning. “I need a piss.”
If Arthur was bothered by a half naked Gwaine being crude, he didn’t show it. But maybe that was just the noble birth.
“Gwaine?”
“What?”
“You may want to have a bath later, too.”
“Uh?”
“You stink.”
“What of?”
“Cheap ale.”
He snorted, “Damn.”
“Mmm. And do you not realise those cupboards are there to put things in?”
“…When was the last time you put something into a cupboard, sire?”
“I, have people to do that for me. Now hurry up, I don’t have all day.”
“Look, I drank a lot last night, alright?”
“Too much information.”
“Whatever.”
“You don’t act like a noble.”
“Never wanted to be one.”
Arthur shrugged and sat down on the table, after a couple of minutes Gwaine staggered out, clothed and looking slightly less of a state. Arthur stood up, and Gwaine followed him out of the room, white faced and drawing disapproving looks from the castle staff.
“If one more person gives me that pursed-lips look, I swear…” Gwaine growled, and Arthur laughed.
“The females of the castle do that to everyone, just ignore them.”
They reached Arthur’s chambers, and sat down at the table, placing the article in front of them.
“So, how long have you known?” Arthur asked, and Gwaine shrugged.
“I just, you know, noticed strange things about him; things he shouldn’t be able to do. And then the whole strength and magic thing… well, I just put two and two together.” He looked up at Arthur, “What about you?”
Arthur shrugged, “Ages. He’s not the best at keeping secrets. Always knew there was something odd about him… then, like you said; strange things happen when he’s around - miracles, and the like. I just, like you, put two and two together. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Gwaine laughed, “Are you serious? He’s my mate! I’m not gonna grass on him to the crowned Prince of Camelot so his head can go to the chopping block!”
“You think so little of me?” Arthur said, sounding annoyed.
“No, I just… I didn’t know whether your father’s influence had corrupted you so much.”
Arthur snorted, “And are you anything like your father?”
“Sadly not. Massive disappointment, actually.” He grinned at Arthur, but he noticed the sadness in his eyes.
“Yeah, I feel like that myself sometimes. But I think he’d be proud of you.”
Gwaine shrugged, “And you’re a better man than your father. So why didn’t you tell me you knew?”
“Well, I don’t know. I haven’t told anyone. I figure the more people who know, the greater change of my father finding out and… well, I don’t know if I could protect him.”
Gwaine nodded, “I understand. So, do we tell him we know?”
“He’s told a whole goblin magazine! Could he be any more idiotic?!”
“It’s pretty pig-headed.”
Arthur shook his head violently, “Too right. And in answer to your question, I don’t know. He may get scared and do something stupid.”
“I’ve been trying to prize it out of him. His excuses are brilliant…”
Arthur glared, “I’ve been slightly more subtle than that.”
“So subtle he doesn’t notice?”
Arthur glared again.
“You know, we could have some fun with this…” Gwaine said suddenly, smirking.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed, “In what way?”
“Well, you know…”
“That would be a little bit cruel.”
“He has been lying to us…”
“To save his life!”
Gwaine could see Arthur cracking, “Yeah, but we’re his mates…”
“Gwaine…”
Gwaine knew he’d won.
Merlin came breezing into Arthur’s chambers to tidy up to be confronted with the sight of Arthur and Gwaine deep in muttered conversation. Gwaine was facing the door when Merlin walked in, and his eyes widened before he shoved a piece of paper under the table and reached an arm out to Arthur in an almost restraining way. Merlin saw the rise and fall of Arthur taking a deep breath, before he spun round and said, in a scarily even voice,
“Merlin, we need to talk.”
Merlin’s mouth went dry, and he managed to squeak out,
“I er… left…”
And then Arthur was on him, pinning him up against the wall, face inches away, anger in his eyes. Gwaine was stood behind him, staring pityingly at Merlin, but not saying anything.
“Arthur… what?”
“Oh come on, Merlin, are you really that dim? YOU KNOW WHAT!”
Merlin’s heart sank, “Arthur…”
“Don’t ARTHUR me, Merlin, you’ve been lying to me since the day you got here!”
“Arthur, I’m sorry. I really am, but how could I tell you?”
“You didn’t trust me, is that it?”
“Well… no, it’s just… Arthur…”
Merlin could feel the tears in his eyes, and Arthur’s death grip really hurt.
“Arthur, I… honestly… I’ll explain… just, please. Don’t kill me.”
At this, Gwaine burst out laughing. Arthur dropped Merlin, who slid to the floor, and spun round to face him.
“Gwaine!”
“I’m sorry,” Gwaine said, between the laughter. “I just… I couldn’t hold it in… he had me at ‘please don’t kill me.”
“I can see that, idiot!”
Merlin was confused, but not for long. Watching the banter while sitting on the floor he realised that they had been having him on. They were joking about something which could potentially kill him. And it really, really wasn’t funny. He felt the anger flare up inside of him, and jumped to his feet.
Once again Gwaine was facing him, and his eyes widened in true shock this time.
“You knew?” Merlin said, managing to keep his voice at a fairly even pitch which also managed to scare the shit out of Arthur and Gwaine. Arthur turned round,
“Look, Merlin, we were just having a joke.”
“Yeah, you know, deciding to push things along a bit…”
“You were taking ages…”
Merlin started to walk towards them both, and they retreated until it was them who were pinned against the wall. Angry Merlin was just a little bit scary.
“How long?” he hissed out, and they looked at each other.
“HOW LONG?”
“Er… a while… since… well, I’m not sure…”
“Mmm, since the goblin…”
“A WHILE? YOU’VE KNOWN ‘A WHILE’ AND DIDN’T BOTHER TO TELL ME?”
He was in front of Arthur now, right up in his face, and Gwaine saw his opportunity to make a dash for it. But before he could, Merlin’s eyes had gone gold and a broom was in front of him, stopping him from going anywhere. In fact, all of the cleaning equipment had come to life and was going a bit mad throughout the room. Gwaine realised that if it was any other time, he would find it quite humorous.
“Well… come on Merlin, you weren’t exactly subtle.”
“AND YOU THOUGHT YOU’D JUST HAVE A BIT OF FUN WITH THAT?”
“We didn’t mean…”
Merlin turned to Gwaine, “I’ll deal with you in a minute!”
Gwaine shut up, and Merlin turned back to Arthur, pointing. Once again Gwaine could see how, in the future, this moment would be pretty funny; but right now he was nervous, to say the least.
“YOU JUST THINK, OH YEAH, IT’S MERLIN, WE’LL HAVE A PLAY AROUND TRYING TO SCARE HIM HALF TO DEATH, HE WON’T MIND, DO YOU?”
He got no response.
“DO YOU, ARTHUR?”
“No, we just…”
“YOU’RE BOTH FUCKING IDIOTS!”
Gwaine was on the verge of laughing now, due to Merlin reminding him of his mother. The broom seemed to notice it and stepped up its game, moving further into Gwaine’s personal space. Arthur noticed this, and also reached the verge of laughing.
“OH YOU THINK IT’S FUNNY DO YOU?”
A couple of candles lit themselves in the room.
“WE’LL SEE WHAT’S FUNNY, ARTHUR PENDRAGON!”
Arthur opened his mouth to speak just as the door opened and the cleaning utensils crashed to the floor in haphazard places. Gwen walked in with some flowers and stopped dead at the sight of Arthur and Gwaine, both knights of Camelot, pushed up against the wall with Merlin, servant, stood in front of them, pointing and visibly furious. She shook her head and backed out of the room muttering,
“Yeah, I don’t want to know.”
When the door closed, Merlin seemed to have lost most of his anger (to the relief of Gwaine and Arthur). He took a couple of steps back, took a deep breath, and said,
“I could fucking kill you both right now.”
“If it means anything now, we’re sorry,” Arthur said, and Gwaine hastily added a “Yeah.”
“If you ever even think about doing that to anyone, ever again; I will…” he ended the sentence with a growl, and Gwaine had to bite back a “… you’ll what?”
Arthur glared at him, also expecting a “…you’ll what?” but needn’t have bothered.
After a moment of awkward silence, Arthur cleared his throat.
“On the plus side, you’ve still got your head.”
This was, apparently, the wrong thing to say as Merlin glared at them both again before muttering, “Fucking dickhead” and flouncing out.
Arthur and Gwaine looked at each other, before shakily smirking.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Gwaine muttered, and Arthur shook his head.
“Me neither.”
“Is he still out there?”
Arthur nodded, “I think so…” He raised his voice.
“Looks like I’ll have to get my own lunch, then.”
The doors flew open again, and Arthur and Gwaine couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on Merlin’s face; which earned them another glare.
“I hate you both.”